What a wild week in the MAC! Four teams moved in the standings, five teams that went 2-0, Ball State lost a non-conference game, and Buffalo got swept.
In addition, the MAC narrowly defeated the Sun Belt in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, seven games to five.
The top four teams hold a two-game lead over the rest of the conference. However, the fifth through ninth-place teams remain in a cluster, with Northern Illinois in hot pursuit of the eighth seed.
The bottom three teams all got swept and remain multiple games back from the MAC tournament.
- Ball State (19-5, 11-0 MAC)
Ball State extended their winning streak to 13 games by crushing Bowling Green by 20 on Feb. 5. This victory also helped keep their MAC undefeated record alive for another week. However, the overall win streak would halt at 13 after losing a 74-78 nail-biter to James Madison, the Sun Belt’s first-place squad.
As if Ball State wasn’t dangerous enough already, senior forward Alex Richard had the best week of her season last week. She had a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double against Bowling Green and then scored 22 points with nine rebounds against James Madison.
Ball State will travel to Ypsilanti to play last-place Eastern Michigan this Saturday, Feb.15.
- Buffalo (19-4, 8-3 MAC)
Buffalo remains in second but lost a very important game last week against Toledo. The 55-58 loss was huge for the Bulls because now two of their three MAC losses are the other two 8-3 teams (Toledo & Kent State). This doesn’t bode well for tiebreakers down the road for Buffalo.
To make things worse, they also lost to Coastal Carolina by 8, turning their once six-game winning streak into a current two-game skid.
The Bulls shot 46 for 119 (38.7 %) from the field in the two games, well below their season average of 44.9 %. They also shot a brutal 65.4% from the free throw line, well below their season average of 76.8 %.
Buffalo will go to Athens and try to avoid an upset against Ohio this Saturday.
- Toledo (17-5, 8-3 MAC)
This week’s MAC team MVP has to be Toledo. The Rockets came away with an enormous three-point victory over Buffalo and a close four-point win over Old Dominion. Toledo’s winning streak is now at five games, making it the new highest winning streak in the conference.
Grad student small forward Sammi Mikonowicz has blossomed into Toledo’s star player. She averaged a double-double over the two games (11.5 points with 11.5 rebounds) and had a season-high 14 rebounds against Old Dominion.
Sophomore guard Kendall Carruthers also had a great week, hitting a step-back game-winning three with 5.2 seconds left to beat Buffalo.
Toledo will try to extend Akron’s losing streak to nine games when they play the Zips this Saturday.
- Kent State (16-8, 8-3 MAC)
The Golden Flashes swung and missed on their biggest opportunity yet to move into second place. Buffalo lost to Toledo in Wednesday’s early game, so Kent State just had to beat ninth-place Northern Illinois in the nightcap to jump the Bulls in the standings.
Unfortunately, the Golden Flashes became the latest victims to the underdog Huskies as they lost 69-73. However, Kent State bounced back against a good Troy team, winning by nine.
Kent State was held to just 69 points against Northern Illinois. This was the first time the Golden Flashes’ top-ranked MAC scoring offense was held under 70 points since they scored 57 on Jan. 15 against Ball State.
Kent State will host an offensively improved Miami team this Saturday.
- Miami (14-8, 6-5 MAC)
Miami had a great week! They won both games, got back over .500 in the conference, and stayed in the top five in the MAC standings. Their first victory was a 23-point blowout against Eastern Michigan. They then beat Louisiana 60-59 in overtime.
The star of the week for Miami was undoubtedly freshman guard Tamar Singer. Singer is clearly a defensive-minded player. She leads the team in steals and only has 6.4 points per game. She even went scoreless against Eastern Michigan on Wednesday.
However, Singer went off offensively against Louisiana. She scored a career-high 17 points, including a game-tying three-pointer with two seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime.
The Singer storyline shows just how dangerous Miami can be down the stretch. They are getting offensive production from a different player each night and have had a consistent number-one defense all season in the MAC.
The Redhawks will face Kent State this Saturday to try to inch closer to fourth place.
- Western Michigan (10-12, 6-5 MAC)
The Broncos got back on track with a two-game sweep, beating stumbling Akron 70-64 and Texas State 59-50. The wins help leapfrog Western Michigan over Bowling Green, placing them back in the top half of the MAC and with a winning conference record.
The Broncos’ defense was on point, forcing 19 turnovers against Akron and a whopping 20 turnovers against Texas State. Western Michigan currently ranks 5th in the MAC in forcing turnovers. The skill has been particularly helpful when the Broncos offense has struggled at times this year.
Western Michigan will face a hungry Northern Illinois team this Saturday.
- Bowling Green (12-11, 5-6 MAC)
The Falcons fell a spot after getting squashed by 20 by the first-place Cardinals. The loss keeps them firmly on the bubble of the MAC tournament, along with CMU and NIU. Bowling Green did bounce back though against Arkansas State, winning 75-73 in a thriller.
Falcons freshman guard Johnea Donahue continues to be a hero off the bench for Bowling Green. The usual defensive menace shockingly had a career-high 19-point, 10-rebound double-double night against Arkansas State.
Bowling Green will host Central Michigan in a crucial seventh vs. eighth-place matchup this Saturday.
- Central Michigan (10-13, 5-6 MAC)
Energy was injected back into Central Michigan with their 27-point dismantling of Ohio. The Chippewas doubled down and won against Marshall 73-68 to complete the two-game sweep.
Central Michigan’s 75 and 73-point performances jumped their offense from 10th in the MAC last week to 8th heading into this week. They now have 64.6 PPG, their highest since MAC play started. An improved scoring offense on the already top-rebounding team in the MAC is a dangerous combination for the current eighth seed.
The Chippewas will travel to the Stroh Center next to try to jump the Falcons in the MAC standings.
- Northern Illinois (11-12, 4-7 MAC)
The Huskies have won three of their last four after upsetting Kent State and Appalachian State. The four-point win over Kent State moves them a game back from BG and CMU for the final spot in the MAC tournament.
Junior guard Alecia Doyle led the Huskies with 23 points in their upset win over Kent State. The mark was a season-high for the SEMO transfer. This is the second straight week that a new star not named Chelby Koker emerged for the Huskies. It is exactly what the Huskies needed to do to get going in a positive direction.
Northern Illinois will go to Kalamazoo to play Western Michigan this Saturday. If NIU wins and Central Michigan falls to Bowling Green, then NIU can jump CMU in the standings.
- Akron (9-15, 3-8 MAC)
Akron’s downfall from their early 3-1 start continues. The Zips lost to Western Michigan by four, giving them their seventh straight conference loss. Their overall losing streak reached eight games after they got destroyed 36-60 against Georgia Southern.
Akron seems to find a new issue each week that this eight-game losing streak goes on. This week, the offense was halted by a lack of team passing. Lots of poor guard iso-ball led to just 12 assists total in the two games.
Overall, Akron averages 11 assists per game, good for 10th in the conference. This lack of ball movement is something that they must fix if they want to get out of this miserable rut.
The Zips face a scorching hot Toledo team this Saturday.
- Ohio (4-18, 2-9 MAC)
There isn’t much hope left for the team from Athens. Ohio lost by 27 against Central Michigan and by 12 against Southern Mississippi. The Bobcats’ losing streak is at four, and they are getting closer to MAC tournament elimination.
Despite the two losses, sophomore guard Bailey Tabeling was a positive force on both sides of the ball for Ohio. She scored 10 points and got a career-high five steals against Southern Mississippi.
The Bobcats will host Buffalo this Saturday. The Bulls are coming off two straight losses but are 19-5 on the season.
- Eastern Michigan (1-21, 0-11 MAC)
Eastern Michigan is now tied with American University for the worst record in Division 1 Women’s basketball at 1-21. The Eagles’ losing streak reached 16 games with double-digit losses to both Miami and Georgia State.
EMU’s offense continues to sputter. They scored 45 points against Miami and 43 against Georgia State. The Eagles’ 58.5 PPG is 10th in the MAC right now and ranks 300th in scoring offense in Division 1.
Eastern Michigan will host first-place Ball State on Saturday. EMU needs to beat Ball State to have a chance at a top-eight seed and avoid being eliminated from MAC tournament contention.
